Saturday, January 23, 2010

India win 1st Test

The World's No 1. Test Team,India,won the 1st Test by 113 runs.Chasing a target of 415,Bangladesh lost wickets at regular intervals and only a few of the batsmen impressed.Opener Tamim Iqbal,who was unbeaten overnight,went on to make a fighting fifty.He looked determined and played with discipline.He was impressive as ever.However,after he fell to a neat catch by Rahul Dravid off the bowling of Virender Sehwag.After his departure,the innings started disintegrating.Wicketkeeper Mushfaqur Rahim made a valiant century.It was his maiden test century and came at an occasion when his team needed it the most.Rahim batted brilliantly.His century came at a strike rate of over 85.He played positively right from the start and gave Bangladeshi fans and team something to cheer about.All the tail enders chipped in with some runs,however,they were never going to be enough.Bangladesh fought hard and overall,they were impressive,but they just could not compete with India.They were all out for 311.Amit Mishra was the pick of the bowlers,with 4 wickets in his bag.On the slow pitch,he was expected to be effective and he proved too good for the hosts.Ishant Sharma picked up 3 wickets,while Zaheer Khan picked up 2.Overall,it definitely wasn't the most cleanical win for India,however,they were good enough on this occasion.India batted well in the second innings and made sure that Bangladesh's 1st innings total wasn't very huge.These really set up the game for India.Sachin Tendulkar's century in the 1st innings got him the Man of the Match award.Bangladesh showed glimpses of a good side and yet weren't able to finish.Indian middle order batsmen VVS Laxman has returned to India after he injured his finger while dropping a catch on the 4th day of the test match.He required 10 stitches on his finger.Meanwhile,skipper MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh are expected to be back in the playing 11 for the next Test in Dhaka.